Traffic signal



Se t. 4, 1923;

J. E. KENNEDY TRAFFIC S IGNAL Filed Aug. 7. 1922 v To all whom it may cohcevmi'sj 7 Patented Sent.

fa citizen of the i United States,; res icling; at 7 Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Qhio, have {invented -cei'tein. "new and useful'Improvements in Tmffic Signals,

' of which the following ist-tasspecification,

' ireference qheing; had'j jthe eijn to the jztcconlr 'p yi g drawing. f This invention-relatesto trztfiie signals fort automobilesancl'IthelikeQf i when'noti 'l1ise; l j Afui ther' objeotof the nyent nis videsueh ssi ml which will- ,e'

. One object of th invention 21 signal i whioh f'ip ii .il be 'oneezfled.

for nfandgeasily operatedi l 55' I J further object; of Ethe invention i s to 'Inount the s'ignalwas a: whole'in a housing which isinoi'mally f-clfosed by at :doorganid ,to provide means eontroll'ed by the fs'i gnalior opening and closing. theidoo'r' of the housing. Other. objects bfpthe inventibniiwill appear as the mechanism is; described in-detaifhl 1 In the accompanying drawings Fig, 1- is a side elevation; ofvv the mechanism showing the same ll'liltSBXtGIlClBCl; position, w1th'the housing inseetlon and F1g. 2-11s aplany ew ofthe; mechanism, Qpalrtly f.bloken g away, showing the" same-initsextended position.

and showing the housing; in section; o V

- 3111'these drawlngsfl hziVeillhstratQd-oh 1 embodiment Fof my; invention and the. :oon-

struction here: shown .is' substantially the ,saineias that shownsinimyoopending appli .eation- :fo'nfpatent filed A1i'g. 20,11921,;Serial N01 493,827; of-which application the present; application islet continuation ingso'fanas the mechan-ism is common: to both i tpplications.

illustrated ;;I have shownxthe 5 signal. and its t 1assoeiaitedniechanism asinolinted'in a, pocket 3 formedginithe side; wall" off; an 5 automobile." Preferably :lout notzanece'ssarily, this pocket,

comprises aa' casing; on housing which is v I mounted: in "I the ibodyzlofi the automobile, 7

:Iti'l will be understood. thatwthel particular mechanism :here ishdwn has been gchosen :for' the purpose :of illustfationrand that? the. in} Ventibm may take Y various- ZEQfIIIS E without departing; from theispirlitj thereoi 1- 7 In that embodiment of? theinvention there -whieh: has an opening formed therein tos=1e Fceiize the same; -I;fzthe:sh e oeof thebody per-f mitsfit", thebuter' end of the hoilsinglmayzbe substantially V fin sh witlrthe well of -the bo'dy;

' Applic tion filed niiust 7, 1922 -sei l ai mpssoeslfi I ll s x gh whi {the 's s aljis" P V jected is closed by. indoor.whieln whenthe nek'ihanisjni isf mounted-in a easing or -house: ling is preferably attached tothe onterl end of the honsing hiit which inay b e' i tta ohed g directlyto the wzpjll ofthe vehicle body; Y

i ,pjr j ng o. l r seeing- 'whmhisa m se w ofli w tl ie? s .Itheb dy h -v h cl "th le li 'l n 711 into. the same in'the-Tean of the seat 1 so; that i will not offe ien'ohstifn'ctionin-the interior o 'Ofthe e-- lleis gnal itselfm 'y M 0mp t n -l i ei resee consu pti he sie alzen ichanism. tire wmount edj on ided wl thfitll. opening 2' to ireeeivexthe saine nidthe jo u telj end ofthe-housing' body. A.

any; suitable character and may be mounted on an extensible snpportof any editablekind, As here shown the signalis in th'e Y form of zt'casing' 3 having a bulls eye iin w the, front and rea nwalls thereof andadapted porg'mey be gz ctnated in any snitfableiimn Iner tdp rojeot and retract'theqsignall1 As h r l hQW :ei be l-c ank e er; e t o 'i re k 9 n h er po iie lli fih 1 housingend hasonearmcQhnected by a link {1Q with rthe lazy tongs andhztsgits other rm :oonneeted withz anop elgating' rod .;'1 1: which en 'fe 'w h peratingm ch n s wh h maybe Qifany' Suitable ds S Qh,.. f

epp ea n. GQnneCc d imG 1-i -1; 10 Visa, 1 0 springlQgwhieh is false cqnngc ted with th wall of the housing so as to draw the link ll) f iorwardly' and thus tendto expend-the. lazy V tongs; QThis spring 'ma y zber' goi sufficient .7

r h fpr je t- -sig lebu wheni t' 9. 5 l-nsedin i Ql'l-neotionwith.anoper ating neehe iani r Pri g sp ngi ehfe rs n n: v :the'aboxie'mentioned application,it willprob- 'j blyzhe qf light eo s ile ioniand wi '1 merely s t nth p' ie tion of theS ghe 11 be ng sub;

It will be apparent that the downward movementfof the operatingrod 11 will force the link 10 rearwardly and thus contractthe lazy tongs and retract the signal. V r

The housing 1 is preferably provided with a suitable door, which will give the device a finished appearance when the signal is in;

its retracted position. As here shown, the door 13 is hinged to one of the vertical edges of the forward end of the housing and is acted upon by "a spring 'lwhich tends normally to'close' the same, and togretain the same in its closed position. The 'opening and closing of the door is controlled by the movement or the extensiblesupport for the signal and the controlling means is preferably of such a character 'that the door will be locked in its open position and held against closing movement until the signal has been retracted far enough to clear the outer edge of the-door, thus preventmgthe 'doorfrom being moved into the path of the 7 signalafter it is retracted. As here shown,- 7 the door operating mechanism' comprises togglewhich consists oi one arm, 15, or abell crank leverpivoted on a bracket-16 in I crank lever extends upwardly into the path of a lug 21-earried by the extensible support and so arranged that the expanding movement of the support will actuate the bell cranked lever to straighten the toggle, thus forcing thedoor into its open position. A pin 22 carried by the extensible support is so arranged that it will engage the armZO of the bell crank lever and move the same re'arwardly to break the toggle and permit.

the door to be closed whe'n'the signal is retracted. This pin is soarran'g'ed'onthe extensible support that it will not'engage the arm 20 of the bell crank lever until the signal has been retracted far enough to carry it past the outeredge of'the door '13. The toggle being'in a "straight position will hold the door open 'afterthe lug 21-has been moved away from the-arm 20 and until the toggle is broken by. the contact of the pin 22 with the arm '20. v

The construction is very simple and easily operated. When notin use the signal mechanismis entirely'concealed so thatit does not present an unsightly appearance, the

door operating meCllahlS'in' being "so controlled that thedoor will be :c'lo'sedfiat all times when the signal is retracted. I have shown and described but one signal, but it.

will be understood thatin' practice a signal will usually bemounted'on each side of the vehicle. The signals may, if desired, be controlled by a common operating mechanism, I

as shown in the above mentioned application.

While I haveshown and described one embodiment of my invention I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof as variousmodifications may occur to a person skilled in the artl- Having now fully described myinventioii what. I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

" 1. In a device of the character deaf scribed, ahousing, a door'ior-said housing, an extensible support mounted within saidv housing, a .-signal -icarried by 1 said support and adapted to be projected beyond said housingfbysaid support, and a toggle connected with said door and controlled by the: movement ofsaid extensible" support.

'2.--In a device of the" character de:

scribed,i a housing, an extensible support ried by said support, meansjfor actuating said support to project and retract said signaL-a door for said housing, a to'ggle conmounted within said housing, a; signalscar- 1 nected with said door and arranged to"-'lock said door in it-s openposition, anactuating member connected with said itoggle, and means carried by'said extensible support to impart movement to saidactuating member.

3 .*In a device of-theJ-character described, a housing, an extensible support mounted within said housingya signal car ried by said support, means for actuating said support to project and retract said signal, a door for said housing, a toggle connected withsaid door and arrangedto lock said door in its openposition,an actuating member connected with said toggle,-a

projection. carried by said extensible support to move said actuating memberin one'direo tion when said support is extended, anda second projection carried by said extensible support to engage said actuating member when. said support is being retraeted,"=said second projectionbeing so arrangedwith relation to saidwactuating' member that --it.

will not engage the' same untilsaidextensib'le supporthas been partially retracted.

4;. 'In a device of the cha-racter; -de-' 1'' scribed, ahou'sing havingadoor at the outer end thereof, lazy tongs connected at one end with .the inner wallof said housing, -a-signal carried by the other end ofrs'aid lazy tongs,

means for extending aiid retracting :said lazy tongs, atoggle "havmg one arm eonnected with saidjdoor tori movement about both ahorizontal and a vertical a x is,-i-an, actuating arm ponii'eted with the firstf m entioned arm of said toggle, and projections carried by said lazy tongs and arranged respectively to engage said actuating arm when said lazy tongs is expandedand retracted.

5. In a device of the character described, a housing, an extensible support having an opening in the wall thereof, of a signal, an extensible support for said signal and, therewith, lying normally within said body, and meansflto actuate said support to project said signal through the opening in the wall of said body. 7

7. The combination of a vehicle body having an opening in the wall thereof, of a housing mounted within said body in line with said opening, a signal, an extensible support mounted within said housing and adapted to support said signal normally within said housing, and means to actuate said support to project and retract said signal.

8. The combination of a vehicle body having an opening in the wall thereof, of a housing mounted Within said body! in line with said opening, a signal, an extensible support mounted within said housing and adapted to support said signal normally within said housing, means to actuate said support to project and retract said signal, a door for said opening, and means controlled by the movement of said signal to open and close said door.

9. The combination with a vehicle having a pocket in one side thereof, of an extensible support mounted within said pocket, a

signal carried. by said support, andmeans for actuating said support.

10. The combination with a vehicle having a pocket in one sidethereof, of an extene sible support mounted within said pocket, a signal carried by said support, meansfor actuating said support, and a door to close the outer end of said pocket when said signal is in its retracted position.

11. The combination with a vehicle having a pocket in one side thereof, of an extensible support mounted within means for actuating said support, a door to close the outer end of said pocket when said signal is in its retracted position, and means said pocket, a signal carried by said support,

carried thereby into and out of said housing, a spring acting on said lazy tongs to extend the same, a bell crank lever mounted within said housing and having one arm 1 connected with said lazy tongs, and an operating rod connected with the other arm of said bell crank lever.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereto.

JOHN ELDY KENNEDY. 

